Why do branding messages work? They work for a very simple reason. They communicate the essence, the core purpose of the company in sticky language that sets a specific company, person, or product apart from the herd.
Some examples? FedEx, the most reliable service for overnight delivery. Don’t leave home without it … American Express. Diamonds are forever – DeBeers. Staples, “That was easy,” because if you can’t make your product sexy – and it’s pretty tough with office supplies – then you’ve got to make it easy. Actually, Staples put a lot of effort into that tag. Remember it used to be “Yeah, we’ve got that.” Not a lot of benefit to the customer or even energy behind that line.When Staples switched their slogan from “Yeah, we’ve got that,” to “That was easy,” they spent $160 million dollars in advertising for that one re-branding effort. It worked! In fact, “That was easy,” came off so well that an unintended by-product of their commercials, the Easy Button became an actual product and ended up being a huge seller.

So what does this mean for you? Well, to begin with, if your brand isn’t CRYSTAL CLEAR to YOU and to your customers, potential customers, fans, colleagues, etc., then you’re literally not just leaving money on the table, your flushing it down the toilet.